“I’ve been starving since you left.”
Chapter 30
The stone floor was damp and each cautious step Ana took echoed much too loudly. She tried to be careful but it was no use. At this rate she might as well scream and announce her entrance.
The steady drip of water mingled with the rapid breaths that fell from her mouth. Her senses had kicked into overdrive and an adrenaline rush fed her body. She glanced ahead and though her eyes usually had no trouble seeing in the dark, down here the thickness of it was nearly impenetrable.
The dagger was held loosely in her hands and her muscles screamed for action.
She heard muffled sounds from behind her, but they were distorted, and that made her nervous.
Her booted foot hit a rock or something like it and she cursed as it went flying, scraping across the floor as it rolled.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she muttered, and stopped as a foreign scent rifled across the cool wet air. She inhaled sharply and gripped the dagger a little tighter. “Come to mama, you little piece of—”
Her words were cut off as two red eyes appeared a few feet from her. They were as high as her chest. A rumbling growl sounded and she was silent as a large hellhound slipped through the bands of gray mist.
Each breath it exhaled was like a ribbon of fire and buckets of spittle dripped in globs from the exposed teeth.
Which to be honest were impressive.
Ana stared at the damn thing and squared her shoulders. It was one hellhound and she was a vampire, a three-hundred-year-old vampire with a hate-on that could tear it apart.
A second growl joined the first and she swallowed heavily as two more sets of eyes joined the first.
Shit. Okay, must revaluate.
“Not fair, boys,” she said as she moved a few paces to the side. The wall was inches away, the hard surface slippery with the constant dripping water. It was then that she felt the subtle energy traces that signaled the presence of a human. Or two.
Excitement shot through her. She was close and needed to keep cool.
The first, the largest hellhound, turned its massive head and blew out one long, lingering breath. The heat of it wafted in the air and she wrinkled her nose as the constant rumble of their chests permeated the space in a wash of sound.
Her hand tightened on the shaft of the dagger and her eyes narrowed onto her prey. Take out the leader and the rest will follow.
Wise words.
She hissed and jackknifed her body into the air so that she ran horizontally up the wall and pushed off with a mighty kick. She flew through the air, her body spiraling so that she looked down at the beasts as she passed overhead. The large hellhound snapped its great jaws and she felt a tug as a chunk of her hair was ripped from her skull.
She flew by so quickly she was surprised the bastard managed to snag a piece, and hit hard, her feet sticking the landing like an Olympian. She whirled around and jabbed the dagger into the hellhound’s haunches. One quick shot to each leg.
She was away, barely avoiding the snap of the smaller bitch to the right as she jumped back. It would have charged, but the leader turned on it and sank its fangs into the smaller beast’s neck, tearing a huge gaping hole into its neck and tossing the animal to the side.
“You want me for yourself?” Ana shouted. Anarchy was a good thing in a situation such as this. Her fangs erupted and she relished the aggressive push that came with them.
The hellhound bellowed and charged. Ana stayed her ground, the dagger held tight, and when it hit, she sank the blade into its chest, forcing it deep as they crashed to the ground.
The beast’s jaw snapped in rapid succession like a jackhammer. Ana barely managed to avoid the danger as she yanked on the dagger. The damn thing weighed a ton and she felt her strength waning but held on.
Her left hand sank into the coarse hair at its neck and she pushed hard, giving herself a couple of inches’ grace from the deadly teeth that growled and snapped.
Pain ripped along her right side as its razor-sharp claws tore into her flesh. Her anger and steely determination gave her the boost of energy she needed and she heaved with all her might, bucking and kicking at the same time. With a grunt she f
lipped the three-hundred-pound animal onto its back and held the dagger aloft.
The smell of blood was in the air—hers—and it enraged her. Ana’s eyes were fully dilated, her fangs extended as she hissed at the hellhound.
“I’m going to carve your heart out and feed it to your friend.” She held on as the animal struggled to unseat her, and bared her teeth as she drove the blade through its chest walls. She heard the sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing.